President Obama meets with flooding victims, Mississippi River continues to crest

BUTTE LA ROSE, LOUISIANA–As the Mississippi River continues to swell, spilling into Louisiana mainlands, President Barack Obama (D) will be in Memphis Monday to speak with families displaced by the flooding.

As of this report, Obama was preparing to board Air Force One and officials were pulling out all stops to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans from a Katrina-like disaster. Thousands of homes and commercial buildings could be underwater if the river cannot be tamed, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesmen said Monday.

Morganza Spillway, near St. Martin Parish, will be the main source of flooding as the dam is being opened for the first time in 40 years. People in eight states face displacement.

Morganza Spillway was opened for the first time in 40 years.

Relief in some areas didn’t arrive for two weeks after the Mississippi and Ohio rivers began to swell to dangerous levels.

As of 11 a.m., EST, parts at least 22 cities were flooded, prompting further aid efforts, which has included volunteers, prisoners and emergency rescue teams.